The Rio Olympics have just ended, and more than 10,500 athletes from 205 countries took part in it. At this elite level, the line between winning and losing is quite blurred. The difference between gold and silver can depend on seemingly small things, such as what an athlete eats. Of course, athletes' menus are far from simple, and in the Olympic Village a team of 2,500 chefs worked around the clock to prepare 60,000 meals a day.

At this level, elite athletes are likely to adhere to individual approach to your diet. Their diets are carefully planned, tested and often backed by the latest research.

Nutritional Habits of Ancient Greek Athletes

This meticulous approach to food and diet followed by modern Olympians is in stark contrast to the habits of early ancient Greek athletes. Take, for example, Harmin, the Olympic champion from Sparta, who won the short distance in 668 BC. He reportedly followed a special diet based on dried ginger throughout the games. At the same time, other typical early Olympians lived on barley bread and cheese.

The ancient Greek coach Pythagoras (not to be confused with the famous philosopher and mathematician) was the first to talk about the need for athletes to eat meat in the middle of the fifth century. Athletes have since adopted this rule. One of the first to incorporate meat into his training regimen was middle-distance runner Dromaeus. He received two victories at the Olympic and Pythian Games, as well as three at the Isthmian. This led to meat being seriously considered as a component of the winner's diet.

Modern principles of diet

The first detailed records of diets during the modern Olympic Games did not appear until 1936. A study of the menus of athletes of this period showed that many dined on two steaks and sometimes a bird. This means that they ate almost half a kilogram of meat every day. In addition, during preparation for the games, their diet consisted of three steaks a day, eggs and meat extract.

The study also found that other athletes paid more attention to carbohydrates. The British consumed large quantities of porridge, and the Italians consumed large amounts of pasta. There were also reports that some athletes ate diets high in carbohydrates. They consumed between 6700-7300 calories per day. These may have been the first attempts to establish proper sports nutrition, but, unfortunately, none of the studies link any of these diets to specific sports events or performance.

What is the importance of carbohydrates

It is now known, of course, that one of the most important ways to improve endurance, for example, for marathon running, is to consume carbohydrates before the race. This happens because during physical exercise Carbohydrate stores in the body may decrease, and they are very important for athletes as they can increase endurance from 60 to 90 minutes. This is why modern elite athletes are often advised to consume carbohydrates 24-36 hours before the start of competition. For an athlete weighing 65 kilograms, 650 grams of carbohydrates per day are needed. They should be divided into several meals and come from different sources, such as bread, potatoes, rice and pasta.

In addition to pre-training, consuming carbohydrates during competition can also improve physical, cognitive and technical aspects of performance. If the competition lasts 30 to 60 minutes, rinsing the mouth with a carbohydrate solution may be enough to increase the body's endurance.

However, it is now believed that strategic periods of eating low carbohydrates and high protein may be more beneficial.

Choosing a diet depending on the type of competition

In today's athletes, performance in competitions involving high intensity exercise over a short period of time, such as sprint cycling, can also be improved by proper diet. Athletes often take the naturally occurring amino acid beta-alanine as a dietary supplement. This amino acid can increase exercise intensity by balancing muscle pH, which naturally drops during this type of exercise. Simply put, decreased muscle pH is one of the main causes of muscle fatigue. After taking beta-alanine, this fatigue does not come as quickly.

Beet juice for increased productivity

IN Lately Athletes have shown increased interest in beetroot juice due to its performance-enhancing properties. Drinking it before the competition (usually 2.5 hours) and after (for six days) will improve tolerance. physical activity. Drinking beet juice forces athletes' bodies to use their resources more economically.

Specific performance-enhancing nutrition can also prevent illness by providing the right amount of energy and macronutrients to match the energy needed for training, as well as to prevent fatigue. Recent research also shows that probiotics and prebiotics can also be used by athletes to help strengthen immune system. They reduce the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections during winter training and competition, when these types of illnesses are most common.

Drawing conclusions

But ultimately, in the pursuit of Olympic glory, nutrition is only one component in an athlete's arsenal. From the time of Ancient Greece food was seen as essential to productivity. There is also now evidence that good nutrition can play a significant role when we're talking about about places on the podium. Therefore, it makes sense for athletes to carefully monitor what food enters their body. After all, it’s not for nothing that they say: you are what you eat. And this is more than true for world-class medal winners.

Many ladies who dream of losing weight envy not only the excellent figure of the athletes, but also their mythical ability to eat, as they say, from the belly.

They say they train a lot, which means they can afford any excess. However, this is not at all true. To keep themselves in proper shape, athletes have to limit themselves no less than mere mortals, and some even more.

Firstly, in certain sports - for example, in wrestling or equestrian sports - the athlete's weight is critical. Plus or minus 200 grams, and you’re already in a different weight category. And secondly, even regular intense training does not save either men or women from common weight problems. Our body’s ability to adapt to difficult conditions plays a cruel joke on athletes: they are rebuilt in such a way that not everything they get from food is wasted during intense exercise.

Some athletes generally gain weight steadily because the body gets used to training,” admits Ilona Korstin, a player of the Russian women’s basketball team. - Personally, I try to comply balanced diet: eat a lot of vegetables and fruits - so that there is more vitamins- and more protein.

Protein is a truly essential element in a sports diet. However, most champions place the main emphasis on carbohydrates: they give them a boost of energy for tiring workouts, while protein is the building material for muscles. So the weightlifters lean on the meat and eggs; the rest are trying to consume more vegetables and whole grain breads, rich in fiber and vitamins.

Some nutritionists say that an athlete’s nutrition is almost the primary factor in his success. At the same time, most do not have a constant, clear diet: the daily menu depends on what kind of load the athlete faces today. Those who are far from big sports can follow this example: by balancing the amount of food with your activity, you can, if not lose weight, then at least maintain a weight that suits you. Eat vegetables and lean meats if you plan to spend the day sitting in the office, but treat yourself to something like ice cream during a walk in the park.

Also, read the labels. Sports diet can't stand it large quantity sugar and salt, so experienced Olympians always check all the components of a product before purchasing it. Try to look more closely: sugar may even be there,

where, it seems, it cannot be, and in fairly decent volumes. Manufacturers especially love to “sweeten” supposedly healthy breakfast cereals: muesli, porridge, cereal, etc. Because of this, many athletes even prefer not to trust manufacturers and cook for themselves: you don’t need to be a chef to soak dry cereal in milk. cereals and add pieces of fresh fruit to them.

You really need to pay attention to breakfast Special attention. Not only athletes, but also nutritionists agree with this. There are several studies in this area at once Last year showed that the largest number of calories human body should receive it in the morning. Therefore, some athletes even have breakfast twice: a little before training and a lot after. The most common morning dish is porridge from several cereals and yogurt: this way the body receives a sufficient amount of nutrients,

Marala Charyeva is vice-president of the Organizing Committee of the XXII Winter Olympic Games and XI Winter Paralympic Games 2014 in Sochi. In her book, she describes in detail the mechanisms of functioning of the public catering system and related services of the hospitality industry in the context of major events. sporting events world-class, and also talks about the lessons that the organizers of Sochi-2014 learned from their activities.

“For the Olympic family, meals were organized on a buffet basis with elements of self-service, including a breakfast menu and a main menu, which offered a wide range of dishes on a 7-day rotation. The best waiters were always present in this VIP area, who tried to serve important and distinguished guests as quickly and cordially as possible.

At the sports facilities of the Coastal Cluster, so-called concessions (in other words, buffets) were open for spectators and athletes, and buffet meals were organized in the recreation areas for athletes and members of official delegations. Each sports venue offered a wide variety of food and beverage options, including barbecue, hot dogs, pies, pizza, sandwiches, waffles, doughnuts, chips, nuts and chocolate. Also on the premises there were cafes, cafeterias, canteens for staff, cafes for the press, catering areas for the Olympic family, and vending machines selling snacks, hot and cold drinks.

Turkish photographer Umit Bektas decided to show what the best athletes in the world who are currently competing at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro eat and created a new photo project. Umit filmed the athletes themselves, as well as their daily diet. The athletes talked about the number of calories they consumed and shared some features of their diet.

Merve Aydin, runner, 3000 kilocalories per day

The 26-year-old athlete trains several hours a day and adheres to a strict high-protein diet.

Fatih Awan, javelin throw, 3500 kilocalories per day

Fatih says: “I can only become a great athlete if I win an Olympic medal. A good diet is essential for any athlete to improve their training performance.”

Nur Tatar, taekwondo, 1500 kilocalories per day

The silver champion at the 2012 London Olympics followed a low-calorie diet before the competition. It was important for her to lose weight to fit into her weight class.

Mete Binay, weightlifting, 3500 kilocalories per day

An athlete never skips breakfast. He eats a lot of red meat, drinks at least two glasses of milk every evening and does not limit himself to sweets. Before competitions, he adds vitamins and sports nutrition to his diet.

Elif Jale Yesilirmak, wrestling, 3000 kilocalories per day

The athlete drinks about five liters of water a day and replaces meat with red fish, as she considers it healthier.

Bahri Tanrikulu, taekwondo, 3000 kilocalories per day

In addition to high-calorie nutrition, the three-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist actively uses multivitamins and supplements. He also consumes a lot of greens and fruits.

During the 2012 Olympics, medical specialists talked about what problems the nutrition of athletes solves, what and when they eat, how the Olympic diet differs from the diet of ordinary people, what has changed in views on sports nutrition over the past twenty years and what it will become in the future .

Energy, recovery and weight

U sports nutrition two main tasks are to stock up on energy for the competition and quickly restore overworked muscles. This is not easy to do. On average, athletes Olympic Games in London, they spend from eight to ten thousand kilocalories per day, which is almost impossible to replace in three meals, and they are forced to eat literally hourly. Given the complex schedule, some people fall behind on their nutritional schedule and this can cause them to lose.

Many people have a third goal - to lose weight, while continuing to store energy and quickly restore muscles. For example, Bob Willis, the youngest windsurfer on the US team since 1988, became a vegan 2 years before the London Olympics in order to “dry out.” Bob is a very large athlete, and it is not easy for him to compete with lighter opponents.

Carbohydrates instead of proteins - and no fat!

Twenty years ago, Olympians ate huge portions of meat, but this is no longer the case. Sports nutritionists have long been convinced that the more protein, the better. Now they say: carbohydrates for energy, protein for recovery, in a ratio of four to one. The diet is dominated by oats, rice, potatoes, pasta and muesli, a lot of fresh fruit and chocolate. The only animal products left are milk, yogurt, eggs and chicken breast. Athletes eat very little fat: cheese, pork and beef, mayonnaise and other sauces have practically disappeared from sports nutrition. The average athlete in London adheres to the following schedule:

• Two hours before the competition, an easily digestible lunch - oatmeal, banana and milk or yogurt.
• After another hour, half a liter of water, juice or energy drink. Fluid overload is worse than dehydration, doctors say. Athletes are weighed first in the morning, then after a performance, and weight loss is replaced with one and a half times the volume of fluid.
• Recovery after a performance begins with a carbohydrate meal, including twenty to thirty grams of protein (an egg or a thin piece of lean meat).

Now there is a trend towards an increase in the proportion of raw and fresh foods, as well as fruits, which release energy into the muscles the fastest. Raw vegans on Olympic teams are no longer surprising. It is known that the majority of Kenyan runners are raw foodists; there are many of them among athletes from other African countries and South America. To name two vegetarians competing in London, Canadian marathoner Dylan Wykes and Jamaican Isa Phillips, competing in the 400m steeplechase. In the future, the nutrition of Olympic athletes will change, because the world is waiting for new records.